jakewritesbooks's review
3.0
Little disappointed with this one. The writer does a great job of covering the backgrounds for Scott Pioli and Thomas Dimitroff, the Belichick lieutenants who left to build teams. But when you get past that and into their Patriot days, it's just a lot of fluff like "They were looking for the right player to play for the Patriots." Well that's fine except the reader never gets an idea of what kind of player that is, besides a humble one. Also, the writer eschews any sort of football acumen for quick dime store analysis. For instance, when talking about drafting Ryan Mallett, the author mentions that he had "top-15 talent" but a bad attitude that contributed to his drop to the 3rd round. What Holley neglects to mention is that Mallett fell in large part not because of his attitude, rather his complete lack of mobility, a serious problem for a QB in the NFL. If you're a hardcore football fan like me, get it because books like these are rare. If you're but a casual one, I'd skip it.
reverenddave's review
1.0
This book is terrible. The Patriot's publicist would offer a more balanced view of Belichick and co. Peter King isnt this fawning. Shoot, even if this were about the Bears I'd find the partiality nauseating. And other than the fact that Pioli doesnt like people in his draft room and Dimitroff does, I am hard pressed to say this book offers any real insights into the inner workings of NFL draft rooms.
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